Changes of total water and sucrose space accompanying induced ion uptake or phosphate swelling of rat liver mitochondria

Total water exchangeable with tritiated water and sucrose space were measured in rat liver mitochondria during the uptake of K(+) induced by valinomycin and the release caused by nigericin. The K(+) content and the sucrose-inaccessible water rose and fell together. 2. Swelling resulting from phosphate addition in a medium of high K(+) concentration was associated mainly with increased sucrose-accessible water, which carried dissolved K(+). This change was reversed by addition of ATP. 3. The response of the sucrose-inaccessible space to changed osmolarity was qualitatively that expected if the mitochondrial K(+) is assumed to be present in this space with a univalent anion. 4. It is brought out that the light-scattering method fails to distinguish between changes in sucrose space and in sucrose-inaccessible space, which in the present experiments could be altered respectively by phosphate (in high K(+) solution) and by cation uptake induced by antibiotic.